What Repentance Looks Like

Day 77: Luke 3:1-22

“Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.” - Luke 3:8 ESV

John the Baptist definitely didn't hold back when it came to his message to the crowds who started flocking to him for baptism at the Jordan. It takes a bold individual to call a group of people snakes. Oddly enough, the crowd seems to be pretty responsive and ready for John's message. Not only that, they want some clarification. It is almost as though they're saying, "Ok, so what does bearing fruit in repentance look like in my specific context?"

Of all the answers John could have given, he goes for these:

1) The crowd: Give away your extra clothes and food.
2) The tax collectors: Collect no more than you're supposed to.
3) The soldiers: Don't use extortion for gain. Be content with your salary.

Very simply, we see that John's immediate response to their request for clarification was rooted in generosity and integrity. When we think about our own lives and times when we've struggled with sin, we may be able to identify with this.

John doesn't tell the Roman employees to quit their jobs for the ungodly Empire. Instead, he calls them to higher accountability within the Beast.

May we all ask the Holy Spirit to increase our levels of generosity and integrity this week!

"This advice is simple and practical. No difficult counsels of perfection are recommended, no useless penance. The great confessor simply presses home to his penitents the duty of unselfishness, the beauty of quiet generosity in the sight of God. The whole teaching of this eminent man of God was thoroughly practical."
- Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. (1909). St. Luke (Vol. 1, pp. 66–67)

SIDE NOTE:
This section in Luke with this practice advice of repentance is unique to his gospel (Mathew, Mark, and John don't include it). We know that he thoroughly researched for his writing. This means, that the more people he interviewed, the more he discovered that John the Baptist was pushing people toward generosity and integrity. This hits deep.